Little Red, the Wolf, and the Pirate
by AnimeWolf101
Summary: Short AU fic. CWZ verse. One minute, Harlock was looking over some books. Next thing he knew, he was warped into one of his favorite fairytales. Is it only a dream? In order to find the answer, he must relive Little Red Riding Hood. One-shot.


**AN: **While I wasn't roleplaying, doing schoolwork, or trying to update stories, I'm writing drabbles for my Tumblr friends. I wrote this short fic for a friend and I'm pretty proud of it. I might do a series of AU Fairytale/Leijiverse short stories - that is if I ever decide to do it. Anyway, enjoy this short fic.

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Young Harlock didn't manage to see it coming in time. He let his guard down as he was glancing over the books in the children's section, remembering when his mother and father used to read him stories. Suddenly, there was a scream, and the bookcase toppled over on top of the pirate. His vision went black.

When he came to, the sun was shining in his eyes and the smell of pine filled his nose. He blinked open his eyes to find that he was laying on a patch of grass in the forest.

_Hold on. How did I even get outside? I was in the library…_

Blocking out the sun with his hand, he slowly sat up. He then looked around, seeing nothing but trees and other plant life for miles around.

He heard a twig snap, and he whipped his head around to see what it was. A large, bear-like figure stalked through the bushes, sniffing out its prey. Harlock kept low to the ground as he crawled to the shelter of a rose bush, peeking out through the leaves to get a better look at the creature.

"My God," he whispered. "That's not a bear… That's a wolf."

Then a flash of red caught his eye. He glanced over to see that there was a path just a ways away, and walking on that path was a person wearing a red cloak. Harlock slowly stood up, hardly believing what he was seeing.

He stood up and slowly made his way closer to the path, careful to stay out of sight but within earshot. He paused when he saw the wolf jump out.

"Hello there, little girl," Harlock heard it growl. "May I ask where you're going with your basket of goodies?"

"I'm going to my grandmother's house," a child-like voice chirped. "My mother warned me about talking to strangers. Forgive me, Mister Wolf, but I must be on my way."

Then the girl in red quickly continued down the path with out looking back.

The wolf brought his claws to his chin in thought, but then grinned sinisterly before disappearing back into the forest.

Harlock stood there, eyes wide and completely dumb-founded.

"Oh. My. God. I'm in the story of Little Red Riding Hood. This just isn't possible…"

He had only heard this story so many times. In fact, it was his favorite fairytale as a child. He would always imagine himself as the lumberjack who would kill the wolf and free the girl and her grandmother from certain death.

"This has to be dream," he muttered as he stumbled onto the path. "But…it just feels so real… Maybe the only way to get out is to live the tale to the very end… That's gotta be the key!"

Without a moment to lose, Harlock followed the path, trying to remember the events that followed what he had witnessed.

_If I remember correctly, the wolf should've tricked Little Red into stopping and picking flowers while he went on to Grandmother's house._

Sure enough, he saw the girl picking daisies in an open field. Not wanting to be seen, Harlock stepped back into the foliage, waiting patiently until she moved on. He took a deep breath before proceeding to follow her to her grandmother's cottage.

No doubt the wolf already devoured the grandma, and now he was waiting for Little Red to arrive. The pirate glanced around nervously, hoping that someone would come along to save the both of them. At least, that's how the story is supposed to end.

After Little Red disappeared into the cottage, Harlock carefully approached the door and pressed his ear against it so that he could hear the exchange between the girl and the wolf in disguise.

"Oh, grandmother! What big ears you have!"

"All the better to hear you with, my dear."

"But, Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with, my dear."

"But, Grandmother, what large hands you have!"

"All the better to hug you with, my dear."

"Oh, Grandmother! What big teeth you have!"

"All the better to eat you with!"

There was a gulping noise, and then silence.

Harlock looked around to see if anyone, particularly the lumberjack, was approaching. Even as the wolf began to snore, there was no one else around. The pirate wasn't willing to wait any longer for someone to show up.

_Then I shall take on the role of the lumberjack. I will free those souls from the wretched beast._

He drew his saber and slowly opened the door, careful as to not wake the sleeping wolf. He could almost make out the muffled cries of the girl inside the creature's stomach. With a swift motion, he sliced open the wolf's stomach and pulled out Little Red and her grandmother.

"Thank you, kind sir," the girl said, hugging Harlock around the waist. "It was awfully dark inside the wolf."

The pirate stood puzzled for a moment as he looked down at Little Red. He then sighed and smiled as he reveled in the moment of being able to live his childhood dream. He had saved the girl and her grandmother, and that was all that mattered.

Then there came the part when Little Red quickly grabbed some stones and stuffed them into the wolf's belly. When the creature came to, he tried to run, but the stones held him down. He collapsed and died in an instant.

To thank Harlock for rescuing them, Little Red and her grandmother inviting the pirate to stay for tea and cakes. He gladly accepted and sat and talked with them for the rest of the day.

Once again, Harlock's vision became blurry, and a distant voice began to pull him back into reality. Little Red and her grandmother fell away, and all became black.

Harlock woke up again, this time in the Deathshadow's medical bay. He glanced over to see Tochiro and Yattaran beside him. They both sighed with relief.

"I thought we lost ya," Tochiro said. "That bookshelf knocked ya right out. You nearly even lost your eye."

Harlock blinked and brought up a hand to his face. Sure enough, a large band-aid covered a cut over his eyebrow.

"How long was I out?" he asked softly.

"Nearly twenty-four hours," Yattaran replied.

"It seemed like you were having a nice dream, though," Tochiro added with a grin. "Mind telling us what it was about?"

Harlock's lips twitched upward and he let out a small huff, glancing up at the ceiling.

"Just a memory from childhood," he said. "A very nice memory, for once…"


End file.
